


Scottsdale

by nothingelsematters



Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: F/M, Gen, Miscommunication, how not to communicate in a relationship, i actually started writing this before worlds, meet cute, star crossed lovers, the reunion fic nobody asked for
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-17
Updated: 2018-06-05
Packaged: 2019-04-13 14:51:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14114721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nothingelsematters/pseuds/nothingelsematters
Summary: For her, it was a place to run from her past.For him, it was a place to consider his future.For them, it became the place where past and future collide.





	1. Si Una Vez (If I Once)

**Author's Note:**

> So this basically popped into my head pretty much the second I read the Ice Den announcement.
> 
> Oh and fair warning: I don't like Frank Carroll.
> 
> Chapter titles taken from the songs in the USFS' "Max Aaron Workout Playlist" on Spotify, which is suspiciously full of songs on the theme of love and heartbreak and love that wasn't meant to be. *side eyes*

Max couldn't help but smile as he pushed the door open and the cool air wafted over his face. He could smell that the Zamboni had recently been on. He could hear the faint background noise of the chillers. From around the corner, he could hear the crisp noise of a blade cutting through ice. Someone with nice edges and decent skating skills, he thought after listening for a minute.

He was home.

Quickly, he walked around to the changeroom. He hadn't meant to come today, not really. But the first day of his new job had been stressful, and the best stress relief he knew was to come back to the ice. To come back home.

Not for the first time, he wondered if he was really ready to leave the ice for good. If he still thought of it as  _home_ , could he really let it go?

Almost on autopilot, he shed his suit and tie, and pulled on his leggings and sweatshirt. His skates felt as comfortable and familiar as socks - idly, he thought that these ones would need to be replaced soon; he should write to Edea and let them know...

But why did it matter?

Shaking his head, Max went out towards the rink, towards the one place he could just...not think. One of the coaches was on the ice, skating moves patterns; otherwise, it was empty, and Max was grateful. Maybe he'd wreck himself on a few quad Axels and he'd feel better. He pulled off his guards and stepped on, turning to put them on the board, and then turned -

And stopped.

The coach had stopped too, and was staring at him from the other side of the rink.

For one long, agonising moment, Max couldn't move or speak.

He'd never let on to anyone how much that day in the cafe had hurt. Outwardly, he'd moved on with his life, seen a few other girls, tried a few things with some guys, focused on his career and his study. Inwardly, he'd never quite managed to move on. He knew he still loved her, even if the thought was mingled with pain. And while they hadn't exactly avoided each other - it was impossible to, really - they hadn't made a point of interacting.

And now Gracie was standing just a few feet from him on the other side of the rink.

She was so beautiful, he thought. Her dark eyes wide, as though she was as surprised to see him as he was to see her. Her hair wasn't quite as blonde; more of her natural colour was coming through, and Max thought it looked wonderful. She looked pale, though, and he wondered if she was all right.

Then she was moving towards him, and Max had to hurriedly force his brain to start actually working again.

"Hi," Gracie said, a little hesitantly.

"Hi," he replied.

There was an awkward moment of silence. Finally Max managed to ask, "Got a lesson?" He knew it was lame even as he said it.

"Yeah. In about five minutes. You? Or are you just training?"

"Just...skating."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

The awkward silence was killing him inside. He wanted to reach out and brush the loose strands of her hair back behind her ear.

Suddenly Gracie blurted out, "You wanna grab dinner after?"

It took Max a moment to respond through all the jumble of emotions that raced through him, but he wasn't about to let this opportunity go. "Yeah, sure!"

"Great!" Gracie looked calmer. "I'll see you at six?"

"Six."

*

They went to a diner not far from the Ice Den, a nice little place with cosy booths and a nice atmosphere. Gracie picked a booth the furthest from anyone else, and took it as a good sign that Max did not disagree.

The waiter came and took their order, and the silence began to get awkward again. Gracie twisted her fingers together as she gathered the courage to start. For a moment, she contemplated waiting for the food; but that would take too long. She decided to treat it like ripping off a bandaid - just do it!

"We need to talk."

Max met her gaze, and nodded. Once, Gracie thought, she had known every expression of their brown depths. Now they were foreign to her. Could she persuade him to let her in again?

"I think it's overdue," he said quietly, pouring them both glasses of water.

Gracie closed her eyes, remembering the long discussions with her therapist about how she had to be truthful to herself as well as others. And something inside her broke and the words came flooding out.

"I was such an idiot, I swear, I didn't really want to end it, but...but...he kept telling me that it was stupid to have a boyfriend in the Olympic year and that I would never make it as a top skater if I was dating and that I shouldn't let myself get distracted, and then, and then..." her breath caught, she had to stop and take a drink, but Max didn't interrupt, watching her with an unfathomable expression.

"He told me I was being selfish," she whispered at last. "That I wasn't just distracting me, that I was distracting  _you_ and messing  _your_ Olympic season up."

"Who told you that?"

And Gracie knew that expression - she had only ever seen it once before, and never this close. That was anger, a deep, hurting anger.

"Frank," she said finally, and looked down at her hands. "I know it was stupid - I know I shouldn't have listened - but he kept saying it, and I just..."

Max didn't say anything for a moment. Gracie waited in a silence worse than torture. Would Max think she was stupid?

"I should have known something was wrong," he said at last. "I just...I didn't want to be your asshole ex, pressuring you to change your mind."

Gracie breathed out, trying not to make her relief obvious. She tried to smile.

"Anyway, I thought...well...now that I know better...I was wondering...if maybe...we could try again."

And she was rewarded with the sight of his smile, genuine and bright and warm and directed solely, completely, at  _her_. His hand closed over hers on the table.

"I'd like that."

Their moment was interrupted by the waiter, bringing them their food; for several minutes there was no further conversation as they ate. For a moment, Gracie hesitated; did she really want to eat in front of Max...?

She felt a gentle squeeze on her hand, but when she looked across at him, he was engrossed in his dinner, which at least was something Gracie was familiar with. She huffed a laugh and ate, and was sure she heard a faint huff in reply.

*

They stayed in the diner for some time, talking about everything that had happened in the last four years. At first, it was a little cautiously, sticking to skating, and different issues. There seemed to be an embargo on many subjects. They talked about Max's season, but veered quickly away from the Olympic subject. Gracie hadn't had a season; they couldn't talk about why, at first.

After a while, Max asked Gracie if she wanted to go for a walk. In the diner, he felt confined, and he thought maybe if they went outside, into the fresh air, it might be easier to talk. They went out to a nearby park. The night was cool, but not freezing, and the sky was clear. Max felt some of his tension ease, and could feel Gracie relaxing too, her hand resting more comfortably in his.

Finally, they talked. Gracie encouraged Max to start, and he did, a little reluctantly at first. He talked about how lost and adrift he'd felt after the day in the cafe, how much it had hurt. He talked about missing the Olympics - not once, but twice.

Gracie asked, shyly and hesitantly, if he'd dated anyone else.

"Not really," Max admitted. "I tried a few times. But - it wasn't - nothing came of it."

He told Gracie about the pretty young skiier who'd been at the OTC one summer, with her short purple hair and sunny smile; he told her about the serious young woman in one of his classes, who he'd had coffee with a few times, but who hadn't understood what being an elite athlete meant. And he told her about the gymnast at the OTC for training camp, with his nose sprinkled in freckles and a cheeky wink; he told her about Adam, both drunk, Adam in joy and Max in sorrow, at Nationals.

Gracie's hand tightened in his. "What about you?" Max asked curiously.

"No-one," she replied, her voice quiet. "Frank - Frank didn't approve. And after the Olympic season it was harder, guys would only ask me because they'd seen me on TV and thought I was famous. And then...well, then..." She swallowed.

Max couldn't help himself. Even though they were almost the same height, she looked so small and lost. He put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her into his side.

Gracie smiled. "I'm okay, Max."

"Well, just in case."

"I'm still...I'm not fully recovered, you know," she said firmly. "I'm still working on it, working on fixing myself, working on everything."

"I know," Max replied. "And I'll be right here with you, every step of the way."

They reached Gracie's car.

"Well...I have to go," she said reluctantly. "I have lessons from 6am tomorrow."

"All right. Maybe - maybe I'll see you tomorrow afternoon? We could get dinner again?"

"That would be nice."

They stood there for a moment, grinning goofily at each other, before suddenly Gracie reached across and kissed Max's cheek.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

Max watched her drive away before turning to his own car, and there was a lightness in his step as he crossed to it.


	2. Let Me Love You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Max and Gracie continue to rebuild their relationship - but some unexpected news is about to put a stumbling block in their way.

As the days passed, Gracie saw Max less and less at the rink. He was attentive to their dates, always prompt, but there were no more shared smiles on the ice, no more touching hands as they passed one another, no more chats over blade-wiping.

He would make up for it in the evenings, as they went out to movies, bowling, dinners. It was almost, Gracie thought, as though they were a normal couple - and not one whose lives had revolved around the rink for so many years.

On one of these evenings, a dinner at a nice restaurant downtown the night before Max's birthday, it suddenly occurred to Gracie what was happening.

Max was telling her a story about something he was learning at his job - he was a "wealth advisor in training", and often threw around numbers and figures that boggled Gracie, who had always preferred writing to math - and his face was shining, his eyes sparkling. The well-cut suit fit him perfectly, as though it was the most tailored of his costumes, and when he laughed, it was his proper, deep laugh that meant he was happy.

 _He's done_.

It hit Gracie with as much force as if she'd fallen off a triple Lutz.

_He's not going to continue. He's going to retire._

She had known it was coming one day, of course. All skaters had that nadir, that personal moment when suddenly, skating was no longer something that was the centre of their universe. And Max would turn twenty-six tomorrow; young in the world that he had entered, but older in the world they had both inhabited for so long. He could probably still be competitive, but the writing was on the wall: to keep up with this new wave, he would have to work harder than before, something he might not even be capable of doing.

But still - she had not expected it  _now_...

"Gracie?"

Max was looking at her, concerned.

"Gracie, are you all right? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"You're...it's over, isn't it?" Gracie said slowly. "It just hit me. You're going to stop skating. I mean, you already have, but this time it isn't just a holiday that you'll come back from in a few weeks."

Max sighed. "Yes," he admitted. "I was going to tell you - I would have, Gracie. I was just...working up to it. Waiting for the end of the season."

Gracie nodded. "I guess - I guess it's not an easy thing to do."

"No," Max said. "Even now there's still part of me questioning if it's a good idea. If I shouldn't give it a try for another year. But why not go out now? I had some really good skates at Four C's, and I'd rather be remembered like that, than if I went on to next year and turned out another Nats performance like this one." A shadow passed over his face. "And four years is too long. I'd be thirty by the next Olympics. I can't keep doing this forever. I'm already old for a graduate in finance."

"You don't have to justify your choice to me, Max. But...it does kinda sound like you're trying to justify it to yourself."

Max flashed her his winning smile.

"Nah. I haven't got any regrets. And sitting here right now, with you - it just makes it all complete."

*

Max wasn't the least bit surprised when he got the updated entry list for Worlds and saw that Adam wasn't on it, and Jason was instead. It had been obvious to him for a while now that Adam was going to capitalise on his newfound fame right after the Olympics. Not that Max blamed him in the least, oh no. You had to strike while the iron was hot, and for Adam, it had never been hotter. Well, he wished his friend well; he knew well there were few opportunities in skating to make good money.

For a moment, a thought flittered briefly through his mind -  _Ross hasn't been training since Nationals, and Jason is now in the team - you're the only alternate left..._ but he dismissed it. Jason would do a fine job at Worlds with Nathan and Vincent. It wasn't his to worry about it any more.

Much more important to him now was his work and Gracie. He was studying for his first brokerage exams, which was rather exciting. And if truth be told, he was quietly confident about the direction he and Gracie were headed. Their relationship seemed to be steady, calm; they even had discussions about life outside skating, though he could tell when she got bored with his financial talk - she'd always been more into writing than numbers, while he'd never managed to be one of those people who could read for hours on end like she could. For the first time in years, Max felt able to daydream about a future together - a future where they wore matching golden bands. He would tell himself not to get ahead of himself, it was early days yet, but it certainly felt like they were headed in that direction.

"You're still here?"

Max blinked and looked up to see Chris, his boss, standing next to his desk, an amused expression on his face.

"Oh, yes, I was just...revising."

"You've been staring into space for ten minutes. Go home, Max. No-one here is going to think any less of you for going home on time." Chris laughed.

"Yes, sir," Max said sheepishly, closing the folder that he hadn't looked at for ten minutes. "See you tomorrow."

Max checked his watch as he headed out to the car. Even with the extra ten minutes he hadn't planned on staying at work, he could still make it in time to collect Gracie from the rink and make that apartment showing he was planning to see. Living with his parents was fine, but...he'd had his own space for so long that he found it very hard to not have that any more.

Absently, he flicked his phone's ringer back on as he hopped into the car. He hoped he wouldn't be late - he'd said he'd pick Gracie up at five-thirty, it'd be tight but if he got the lights he could probably do it.

The lights were on his side, and any residual stress from the day melted completely away when he pulled up to the front of the Ice Den and saw Gracie smiling at him.

"Hey, you're actually on time today instead of early."

"Yeah, got caught up at work. How were lessons?"

Max let Gracie spin out the story of the six year old who was insistent they could do a proper Axel when they weren't even up to loops yet, laughing as she described the little face getting redder and redder. When she finished it, she plugged her phone into his car and started flicking through tracks on Spotify, insisting his driving playlist was substandard, and before he knew it, her rather sweet singing voice was filling his car, and Max couldn't help his smile. He couldn't think of a time he'd been so happy.

He didn't hear his phone ringing under the cover of the music.

_1 missed call: Jason :D_

*

The apartment was spacious, airy; a nice two-bedroom place in a new build, not too far from his work (or from the Ice Den, for that matter). It came with its own car space and storage room, and Max rather liked it; it was modern, sleek, and a  _great_ kitchen.

"Do you need two bedrooms, though?" Gracie asked as they wandered into the second, hand-in-hand. "It's just you, after all."

Max shrugged. "I can put my workout gear in here. Maybe invest in some home gym equipment. I've always wanted to. And I'll need storage space for my costumes. I've always said the more space the better, just in case...well...circumstances change." And he smiled at Gracie so radiantly that Gracie's breath caught, and she understood the unspoken hint; he was hoping that at some future time, this might be  _her_ apartment, too. A young couple needed more space, she remembered reading, just in case...she blushed at the very idea that took her by surprise. Was Max also hinting that the second bedroom could later be used if they had a child?

Pleasure filled Gracie that Max might be thinking of their future together; she had thought of it often. Of course, it was too soon to consider these things. But Max had never made any secret of the fact that he wanted kids, and she'd always thought she'd like them too, so it was natural, she supposed, that if they were thinking of the future they might think about that, too.

Gracie was jolted from her thoughts by the sound of a phone ringing. The tone was unfamiliar, and it wasn't until she saw Max's hand dive for his pocket to silence it that she realised it was his.

"That's a new ringtone, isn't it?" she asked.

"No," Max replied. "It's the tone I have for Tom."

"Why would Tom be ringing you?"

Max shrugged. "I'm sure it's not important. Probably wants to talk about the camp we're doing later this year. Do you want to go find dinner?"

"Sure," Gracie smiled. "If you're done here. We could go back to mine?"

Max's smile widened. "Love to. Let's go."

They were cut off as the loud ringing started again, and Max frowned as he took his phone out.

"You better get it," Gracie suggested. "If he's rung back right away it must be important."

Max nodded and swiped at his screen. "Hey, Tom. What's up?"

Gracie watched Max's face as they walked out to the car. He winced first, and Gracie knew why; she could hear Tom's voice, and even though she couldn't make out the words she could hear the cross tone, probably because Max hadn't answered earlier.

Then Max said "Wait,  _what_ _?_ " and Gracie's brain kicked into high gear, because Max had sounded so shocked, and his face was getting paler by the second.

Max froze in place, his eyes unseeing, as Tom's voice burbled in his ear. Then suddenly he shook himself. "Yes, yes of course. Yes, I'll arrange it. Yes, by tomorrow at the latest. Can you find somewhere?" He started chewing on his lip as he waited for Tom's answer. Gracie began to get anxious. Whatever was happening, it was a lot more serious than Tom wanting Max to demonstrate at a camp or something. She could see the tension creeping through his body. It was the same sort of tension that he got at...

 _Surely not_.

Max said his goodbyes to Tom and hung up, and he looked so shellshocked that Gracie took him by the arm and gently steered him to the passenger's seat of the car.

"Is everything all right, Max?"

That seemed to snap him out of it.

"Jason's not going to Worlds," he blurted out.

That stopped Gracie in her tracks. "What?"

"Tom just got a call from Mitch. Jason's withdrawn. He's not going to Worlds."

They stared at each other, and suddenly it sank in. Jason not going, Adam not going, Ross hadn't been skating since...

"Oh my god."

"Yeah."

"Oh my  _god_."

"Yeah."

Gracie snapped out of it first; nothing was going to be gained by sitting in Max's car in shock.

"All right," she said. "Let's get some dinner, and figure this out. You won't be flying out tonight" - she checked her watch - "there aren't that many flights after 7, and I don't think anyone goes to Denver by this time."

"Right," Max said slowly. "Right."

*

They grabbed some Chinese takeout on the way back to Gracie's, and Max set it out on the floor while Gracie grabbed her laptop.

"Where are you going to stay when you get there?"

"Tom's arranging it.  _Shit_ , I just realised - I need to talk to Chris - crap -"

"I'm sure Chris will be fine with it, they'll understand. All right, let's make some lists."

Gracie loved her lists, Max remembered belatedly. She said they kept her organised. Although right now with the way his head was spinning, a list of things he needed to sort out sounded like a great idea.

"Let's see - where are your costumes?"

"Box," Max replied automatically. "In my parents' basement. With the rest of the costumes."

"Skates? Do they need sharpening?"

"No, they're in my bedroom, I'll get them done in the Springs."

"Music?"

"Shit, I deleted it off my phone. I think it's on my laptop."

"Passport?"

"Still good. I'm sure Mitch will figure out my visa."

"All right, we need to get you a flight - we might have to call United - there's a Frontier direct to the Springs at 6am, you want that?"

"Frontier? Doesn't sound like a good idea. Tom said he'd pick me up from Denver, I just have to tell him when."

"All right, well there's a United flight at 6 as well, why don't you call Chris and I'll call United?"

Between the two of them, they somehow managed to start getting things organised. Max called his boss, spluttering in embarrassment, and explained the situation. Chris did laugh, but also said that it would be fine, and Max could take off all the time he needed. They could email the logistics when he got back to Colorado. Gracie's call was also successful; they managed to get Max onto the 6am flight.

"Thanks, Gracie," Max sighed, running his hand through his hair. "I'd have been lost without you."

 Gracie smiled back at him. "Let's eat."

They ate in silence for a time, each lost in their own thoughts. For Max's part, shame was starting to creep through him. He was in shape, yes, for the triathlon, but in skating terms, he was woefully unprepared. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been to the rink - it had to have been weeks. And the last time he'd tried a quad anything was...well...he hadn't seriously tried any quads since Four Continents. God, he was about to go to Worlds, he was so unready - and he couldn't get in peak condition in two weeks. He knew that. The world was going to know that he'd slacked off. He squirmed uncomfortably.

"What's wrong, Max?"

Max sighed.

"I'm such an idiot, Gracie. I should have realised - I should have known that there was a chance I'd be needed."

"You couldn't have known that. None of us knew that Jason wouldn't go."

Gracie watched as Max hunched in on himself, and she knew that expression, knew that body language - he was about to start castigating himself for his faults, real or perceived. She had to put a stop to that - she'd always hated it.

Max looked up in surprise when he suddenly had a lapful of Gracie, her hands gripping the sides of his face, forcing him to look at her.

"You listen to me, Maxwell Theodore Aaron," she said fiercely. "You are a human. You're not perfect. Nobody is. So you made a mistake this time. It's not the first time. It won't be the last. But you're  _not_ going to sit here and be miserable about it."

Max couldn't help himself. Under the gaze of her blazing dark eyes, he melted.

"You - you believe I can do it."

"I  _know_ you can do it!" Gracie pressed her forehead to his. "I  _know_ you can do it and I  _know_ that you  _will_ do it."

Max felt the smile pulling at the sides of his mouth in spite of himself. "I'm not going to score big. I don't even know if I'll get the Sal happening in time, forget the toe."

"You don't need to score big, Max. Just enough. I want you to promise me something, Max."

The way she was looking at him, he'd have promised her anything, even if it meant going to the moon.

"I want you to promise me that you'll go to Milan, and you'll have an amazing time, and no matter what happens, that you'll leave the ice with your head held high and a smile. Enjoy this one, Max. Forget everything else, and just have fun. Will you promise me?"

"I promise," Max replied, and suddenly the tension that had been building in his body since the call flooded out of it. "I promise you, Gracie. I'll teach them how to say goodbye."

Their promise was sealed with a kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually wrote this chapter originally during the aftermath of the Olympics, when we all "knew" Adam wasn't going, but when there were also rumours going around that Nathan was sick and may be in doubt as well. So the original version of this was that poor Nathan was too tired and sick to go. I wish health and wellbeing on all skaters!


End file.
